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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Health Report. |
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A new study has found evidence of |
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aggressive behavior in children who drink four |
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or more servings of soft drinks every day. |
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Information for the study came from |
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the mothers of 3,000 5-year-olds. |
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Researchers asked the women to keep a record of |
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how many servings of soft drinks their children drank |
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over a two-month period. |
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The women were also asked |
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to complete a checklist of their children's behavior. |
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The researchers found that 43 percent of the boys and girls |
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drank at least one daily serving of soda, |
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4 percent of the youngsters had four |
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or more sodas to drink every day. |
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Shakira Suglia is with Columbia University's |
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Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. |
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She worked on the study with researchers |
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from the University of Vermont |
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and Harvard University School of Public Health. |
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She says they found that children who drank the most soda |
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were more than two times as likely as those |
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who drank no soda to show signs of aggression. |
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"For the children who consumed four |
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or more soft drinks per day, |
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we see an association between aggressive behaviors, |
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attention problems and withdrawn behaviors." |
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The aggressive behaviors included |
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destroying possessions belonging to others, |
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taking part in fights and physically attacking people. |
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Shakira Suglia says the researchers identified the link |
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after they considered socio-demographic factors |
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like the child's age and sex. |
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They also considered other possible influence, |
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such as whether the boys and girls were eating sweets |
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or giving fruit drinks on a normal day. |
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In addition, the researchers examined parenting styles |
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and other social conditions that might be taking place in the home. |
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Doctor Suglia says it's not clear why young children |
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who drink a lot of soda have behavior problems. |
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"We can't prove that this is a direct cause |
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and effect relationship, having said that, |
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there are a lot of ingredients in soda, |
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a lot of ingredients that have not been examined |
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in relation to behavior." |
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A substance often found in soft drinks is caffeine, |
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which helps to make people feel energized. |
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Doctor Suglia suggests that caffeine |
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could be causing the 5-year-olds to be more aggressive. |
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The research is part of a large study called |
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the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, |
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it follows 5,000 poor mothers and their children in 20 American cities. |
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Earlier studies of young adults have found the highest sugar levels |
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in those who carry weapons |
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and show signs of negative social behaviors. |
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And that's the Health Report from VOA Learning English. |
